[John H K]

Actually a successful "shoe bomber" attack would look pretty much like 587:

Actually. a successful "shoe bomber" attack would look NOTHING like 587.

How does it magically cut the hydraulics without rupturing the passenger cabin? So where are all the pieces of passenger seats, overhead bin luggage, etc. blown out the plane that would have been floating on Jamaica Bay? Have you seen those photos of the test of a C4 bomb in a Walkman in a 747 (on the ground?). Massive cloud of confetti blown out of the passenger cabin. Guess what....there wasn't any for 587.

[Poohbah]

Note that the shoe bomb didn't use C-4--it used PETN, which is much wimpier. It wouldn't have worked.

[eno_]

But there were numerous witenesses insisting they saw, and some heard, an explosion and/or fire near the middle of the fuselage.

Also, any debris from an explosion would land before the tail came down, not in Jamaica Bay, or at least not in the same part of the bay, so if there is a smoking gun in the form of another debris field, it isn't in the same place as the tail.